Sharp also replaced the predecessor's Intel 8088 processor with an 8086 running at a user-switchable 7.37 MHz and bumped the stock memory from 128 to 320 KB.

These improvements led to higher performance and near-true IBM PC compatibility, in turn leading to a wider range of software that could be used with the computer.

[6] Along with the aforementioned 8087 coprocessor and RAM expansion options, users could also have ordered a proprietary video card allowing them to hook up an external monitor with RGBA input to the computer.

Later revisions of the computer, starting in 1988, were manufactured in the United States in Memphis, in a factory that also produced Sharp's television sets and microwave ovens.

[17] The company had previously revealed the PC-7000 in July that year, at a trade show hosted by the National Office Machine Dealers Association, in Las Vegas.

[20] Betsy Staples, editor of Creative Computing, predicted that its sub-$2000 price would make its future "rosy" in the PC clone market.

[21] The PC-7000 received high praise on release, with Sharp selling hundreds of thousands of units—this figure including sales of later models—globally over the years.

[22] George Brett, a journalist for the Toronto Star, preferred the Sharp PC-7000 over IBM's PC Convertible for retaining the then-widespread 5.25-inch floppy disk drives, costing less in its stock configuration while also having more memory, and backlighting the display.

In comparison, Brett found IBM's adoption of 3.5-inch floppy disk drives as the exclusive media format of the Convertible poorly conceived and its display unreadable.

[24] Phil Casella, a software developer and an InfoWorld writer, called the PC-7000 well-performing, easy to use, to set up, and to service, and rated it a good value.

In particular, Casella praised the computer's sturdy construction and case design and defined the display as "one of the best" LCDs his magazine staff had seen at the time of his review.

[25] Alfred Poor, a freelance writer for PC Magazine, also praised the construction and display,[26] while holding reservation with the keyboard's lack of tactile feedback and moderate heft of the entire computer.